HEMMER, Joseph H. 1873-1922

HEMMER

Posted By: S. Bell
Date: 2/23/2014 at 00:22:54

Waterloo Evening Courier, Tuesday, December 12, 1922, Waterloo, Iowa]

Joe Hemmer, Ambro Schroeder,
of Washburn, Killed When
Wind Completes Work.

THIRD MAN ESCAPES WITH SLIGHT BRUISES

Timbermen Victims of Unusual Accident Late Yesterday Afternoon

Caught beneath a big tree that had been cut nearly thru preparatory to felling, Joe Hemmer, age 45, was killed instantly and Ambro Schroeder, 60, was so badly injured he died 45 minutes later when the tree suddenly crushed to earth late yesterday afternoon on the Henry Linquist farm, four miles north of Gilbertville, Ia.

Nick Welden, a third man engaged in the work, narrowly escaped death and received bruises when struck by limbs of the tree. Both victims resided in Washburn, Ia.

The men were engaged in clearing a tract of timber, and had cut down a number of trees, leaving a path behind them. On of the largest trees was chopped almost thru, when it was found that a strong wind would prevent its falling in the direction desired. It was decided to await a change in the wind before giving the last few strokes of the axe necessary to bring the tree down. The woodmen then went to another tree and started to cut it down.

In going to the new location the men, without noticing it, were directly in the path the other tree would take when it fell. Suddenly the wind shifted, there was a crash and the big tree came down upon the men. Hemmer and Schroeder were pinned under the trunk while Welden was knocked to the ground a short distance away. When he went to the air of his companions he found Hemmer dead, his skull having been crushed. Schroeder was alive, but it was impossible to release him from under the tree without assistance.

Welden took on of the horses used to haul wood and rode to Gilbertville to summon help. When the rescuing party, including a physician, arrived in an automobile, Schroeder was alive and conscious, but died before he could be removed from the scene of the accident. He had received fatal injuries about the head and both legs were broken.

The bodies were brought to Waterloo and taken to Hileman & Gindt Undertaking Parlors, pending funeral arrangements.

Mr. Hemmer is survived by his widow and three children, a married daughter living in South Dakota, a son, Floyd, and daughter, Dorothy, at home.

Mr. Schroeder was unmarried and had no immediate relatives. A niece resides in Jesup.

----------------------------

[Waterloo Evening Courier, Wednesday, December 13, 1922, Waterloo, Iowa]

HEMMER FUNERAL WILL
BE AT WASHBURN HOME
TOMORROW AFTERNOON

Washburn, Ia., Services for Joe Hemmer, who was killed by the fall of a tree at Gilbertville Monday Afternoon,
will be at 2 p. m. tomorrow in this city. Burial will be in the cemetery here.

----------------------
Gravestone at Washburn Cemetery, Washburn, Iowa inscribed:
Joseph H. 1873-1922